COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwire - October 26, 2009) - In battling today's uncertain economy,
retailers are taking a risk by dramatically reducing inventory levels and
creating dreaded stock-outs that disappoint customers and threaten their
continued loyalty. Now, in an effort to make stock-outs a thing of the
past,
Sterling Commerce, an
AT&T Inc (
NYSE:
T) company, today introduced
Sterling Always in Stock. This new solution combines
advanced cross-channel order management with seamless integration
capabilities to enable retailers to improve the customer experience and
preserve customer loyalty, while boosting sales and optimizing inventory
efficiency.
When a customer is faced with an out-of-stock product, Sterling Always in
Stock enables the sales associate or call center agent to find the desired
item in the retailer's network and the customer to choose a satisfying
fulfillment method. Sterling Always in Stock is a preconfigured solution
that combines modules from Sterling
Multi-Channel Selling and Sterling
Multi-Channel Fulfillment with an easy-to-use interface
for sales associates and call center agents to optimize the entire
"save-the-sale" business process. The solution utilizes a special order
process that also can accommodate 'endless aisle' items. Once the
transaction is complete, Sterling Always in Stock automatically triggers
fulfillment from the designated location and provides complete order status
visibility for the customer and the sales associate.
"Our customer satisfaction and loyalty is much improved when we can offer
multiple fulfillment options to solve an out-of-stock or make the purchase
more convenient," said Chap Achen, director, Multi-channel Order Management
at Best Buy, a long-standing Sterling Multi-Channel Fulfillment customer.
"Retailers are walking a fine line in the current economy, trying to
balance reduced inventory levels while delivering a superior shopping
experience," said Jim Bengier, Retail Industry executive at Sterling
Commerce. "Until now, store associates facing a stock-out had no effective
means of saving the sale. Sterling Always in Stock demonstrates that
Sterling Commerce not only understands the challenges of the retail
industry but can deliver innovative solutions to solve them."
Sterling Always in Stock provides three unique capabilities:
-- A guided, automated save-the-sale process combined with an easy-to-use
interface for store associates and call center agents;
-- Configurable sourcing rules that steer the associate toward the most
appropriate fulfillment options, as well as flexible sourcing logic to
support advanced cross-channel fulfillment options, such as ship to home,
ship to store, store-to-store transfer and hold for alternate-store pickup;
and
-- Seamless integration capabilities that provide real-time visibility by
integrating with POS, inventory management and warehouse management
systems.
A video demonstrating how Sterling Always in Stock saves the sale can be
found at
http://sterlingcommerce.com/about/news/video/.
Only Sterling Commerce brings together the power of community, internal and
external integration, and the cross-channel applications necessary to
effectively address the visibility and management gaps of a retailer's
order lifecycle. The company's offerings include
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Suite, a comprehensive
solution for the entire inquiry-to-cash process, and
Sterling Business Integration Suite, a complete solution for
all integration needs, inside and outside the enterprise.
About Sterling Commerce
Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc (
NYSE:
T) company, helps companies optimize
and transform their
Business Collaboration Network to
accelerate revenues and reduce costs. Sterling Commerce provides more than
30,000 customers worldwide
applications and
integration solutions to connect, communicate and collaborate
inside and outside their enterprise. More information can be found at
www.sterlingcommerce.com.
Contact Information: For more information, contact:
Julie Redard
Sterling Commerce
(978) 513-6386
julie_redard@stercomm.com
Jamie Leicht
Fleishman-Hillard
(619) 237-7711
jamiemarie.leicht@fleishman.com